


Pack Street: Curiosity And The Cat

by MisterEAnon



Category: Pack Street - Fandom, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 05:59:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8359930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisterEAnon/pseuds/MisterEAnon
Summary: Dora (Or Pandora, if you REALLY have to) notices her roommate vanishes every week. After a few dire clues show up, however, she decides to shadow him on his routine to get to the bottom of it.





	

The first clue was the fact he left week at the same time, on the same day.

I didn't really think about it, at first- I had a life, and a job, so I didn't keep too close an eye on what my roommate did in his free time. But as busy as I could be keeping the shop running, it was hard to miss the way he always seemed to leave in the middle of the week, like some kind of ritual.

The second clue was the gloves. I'd seen them around now and again, but I'd never actually come across them when I was digging through the apartment looking for something- Only when my roommate brought them, it seemed. Normally I wouldn't care about what my favorite coyote wore, except for one thing:

Yesterday, he came home annoyed. I didn't notice right away, since he was still as outwardly apathetic as he always was, but he was even shorter with me than usual. Not rude, exactly, but having even less patience for socializing than he usually did.

And the blood. I couldn't see it, but I could smell the blood on him. When I asked him if he'd cut himself, he just gave me a curt 'No' and went back to browsing the internet on his phone.

And now, there was this. A shovel, leaning against the door. I sure as hell didn't put it there, so that meant he must have. Why would anyone need a full sized shovel in Pack Street? This was the ghetto, not a jungle. It was all very suspicious, in my mind.

I never suspected my roomie of anything, before. He didn't exactly volunteer information freely, but he tended to be direct when I asked him anything, even if he could be obstinate with his answers. But vanishing every week, at the same time every day? Blood somewhere on him when he came back? And a new shovel the next day after that?

I had to get to the bottom of this. And I didn't think just asking him was gonna cut it, this time. All I had to do was wait until next time.

 

 

 

I glanced up from my own phone as my roommate got up. It was right on time, too- He had the time of day down to an art, as well. He shuffled towards the door, idly picking up the shovel and taking it with him as he padded out of the apartment. I hadn't asked him about the shovel, and he hadn't told me.

The hunt was on. My tail flickered back and forth excitedly as I stood up. I had already prepared to follow him- I trailed after him, shoes already on, keys in my pocket. I locked the apartment behind us. There was something undeniably exciting about unraveling the mystery of just what the hell the coyote had been up to.

The clues looked… Bad. I knew that. But I was still eager. Maybe I just didn't really believe that he could do such a thing? Either way, I was ready to find out more. As I hopped in my car, idly plugging in my phone out of pure routine, I knew I couldn't rest until I uncovered the truth.

It wasn't long until he made his first stop. Weirdly, it was at some kind of agriculture store, judging from the name. As a predator, I didn't really have any reason to know about farming shit. And my coyote roommate couldn't, even if he wanted to: Pack street wasn't exactly abundant with fertile soil.

I didn't follow him in- I stayed in my car on look-out, with the AC on. My effort paid off: I caught him leaving the same way he went in. And now, he was carrying a plastic bag with him.

There was a machete poking out of the top of the bag, the clean metal gleaming conspicuously in the sun.

My paws tensed on the steering wheel. I couldn't lie to myself: This looked bad. My excitement at running around playing spy was starting to dry up with concern. I just didn't know if I was concerned for him, or for myself.

By the time I focused again, he was already leaving. Automatically, I start my engine, following after him. I needed to know what was going on.

Even if it killed one of us. I really, really hoped it didn't come to that.

 

 

 

I had some pretty conflicting feelings on the rainforest district.

On one hand, it was wet. And tigers tended to love water, myself being no exception. But it could definitely be too much of a good thing, especially on a hot day. And then, there were the bugs- I loved the thrill of the hunt as much as any other predator, but I was a person first, and I liked my food dead and bought, rather than caught.

All and all, though I don't think I'd want to live there, it was a nice place to visit. And apparently, my roommate agreed. Why the hell was the coyote coming here? Was this where he disappeared so regularly?

Unfortunately, I couldn't really keep driving after him, where he was going- He was going off-road. I had no choice but to do the same, if I wanted to follow him. And I did- I wasn't going to give up now, not when I was so close to learning the truth. As I locked my car behind me, I wondered if it would be a truth I wanted to know.

As I walked, I wondered if I wanted to take my shoes off. The ground here looked pretty soft and warm, suffused with the humidity of the rainforest. Not at all like pack street, with sidewalks that could heat up under the sun to be both rock-hard and uncomfortably hot. But no- I'd keep them on, for now.

Especially if I had to run.

It wasn't long until we arrived. It was a stout, unmarked building- Aside from the zip-code, it didn't have any immediately obvious signs on it. It could have been a private residence, for all I knew.

It took me a good minute to actually reach it, considering I was hanging back so he wouldn't notice. While I walked, my anticipation spiked- I wasn't a very patient person when I was excited, and I couldn't bear to wait anymore. If my roommate was, shit, I don't know… Caught up in some weird cult shit, or a murderer, or whatever, I had to know.

I stepped up to the door, took a deep breath, and shoved open the door with a paw. I saw him first thing, facing the other way, so I called out. “Hey! You-”  
  
He turned around. Wait. Was that- Oh my god.

“You- You absolute _prick!_ ” I finished, crossing my arms and scowling at him. He just looked down at the potted cactus occupying his hands, and back up at me.

“Well spotted,” he replied dryly. “It's a not a 'you', though, it's a plant.”

I wasn't having any of his usual dry observations, though. I padded over to him, poking a finger into his chest. “You had me so worried! You disappear every week, and there was the blood, and the shovel- I thought you were some kind of fuckin' serial killer or something!”

He just steadily raised his eyebrow as I lifted things off. Once I finished, he just nodded calmly. “We should probably talk,” he started. “But not here. People are working.”

What--

I looked around. Oh, hell. There _were_ people, loitering by the walls and in the corners. The majority of the room was free space, but there were tables and planters by the wall. And tending to them were all kinds of mammals- Mostly prey, but there was at least one resigned-looking wolf ignoring me, poking at some home-grown lettuce.

And the only reason he stuck out was that everyone else had stopped to stare at me. Now that I didn't have tunnel-vision hunting down my roommate, it was pretty clear I had walked into some kind of… Gardener place.

I sighed. “Yeah. Let's… Let's talk.”

 

 

 

I flopped down onto the bench he led me to, leaning back against the wall. The coyote sat next to me, still holding his little cactus. He didn't have the bag with the machete in it, though.

He nudged me with his shoulder, since his hands were full. “Talk,” he said, tone as dull and unenthused as usual.

I huffed. Where to even begin…? “You kept doing mysterious shit, and eventually I couldn't ignore it anymore,” I admitted.

He gave me a _look._ “If I have to unironically bring up the thing about cats and curiosity-”

I held up my paws in surrender. “Please, no,” I replied, feeling a smile tugging at my lips. There was a hint of truth to that, though. Okay, maybe more than a hint. “So… Every week, you come here?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

“And… the last time you came home after you disappear- To here, I guess- You came home with those gloves I can never find, smelling like blood.” The fact that I could never find the things wasn't sinister, but it was mysterious.

He glanced down at his paws, which were wearing said gloves. “I have a cactus,” he pointed out. “And last time, someone cut their paw. Since they didn't want to stop working, they borrowed my gloves.” He looked vaguely irritated. “You'd think they'd find some other pair, but no.”

Well… Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to hold a cactus without some tough gloves, either. And since someone else borrowed it while he wasn't looking, he probably kept them here most of the time. I had one more question, though. “And the shovel? The machete? Just to be clear, those AREN'T used to kill people and bury their bodies, right?” I asked

He rolled his eyes. “No, they aren't for killing people and burying their bodies,” he parroted back to me dryly. “Jeanine sat on her shovel and broke it, but this is her only day off. I got her a new one for her; she paid me back for it.”

“Who's Jeanine?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

He shrugged. “The elephant.”

We took a moment to wonder how an elephant used a shovel. Or at least, that's what I was wondering. I'm not sure what he was thinking.

A few seconds later, I shook my head to clear it (Something with their trunk, probably?) and moved onto my last question. “And the machete?” I prompted.

He sighed, taking a single paw off the pot his cactus was in to pinch his muzzle. “You've been fixed on this, haven't you?”

Yes. “No! Also, answer the question,” I told him, crossing my arms. My tail betrayed me, though- Despite how I tried to look serious, it flickered playfully to and fro.

He put his paw back down. “This is a rainforest. Where else do you use a machete? And besides, that wasn't for me, either. One of the gardeners is an official gardener instead of just a hobbyist- They have to keep the rainforest flora under control, and she's always bitching about how awful the standard ones are. I got her something nice.”

Flora was a nerd word to use. I think he was actually pretty into this whole gardening thing- Which was a surprise, since I'd never have expected it. “Oh yeah? Is this a gift for her too?” I asked, reaching out to poke at his cactus-

He _growled,_ scooting away from me and holding the pot protectively against him. “Fuck off, this is mine,” he grumbled.

Whoa. He wasn't usually that… Openly emotional about anything. The last time he'd been that protective was when I was halfway to bleeding out after my final trip to the Pounce House with him. And that made me think.

I let him scoot, giving him his space. “So… This is your cactus, then?” I asked, holding up my paws in another gesture of surrender.

He glared at me for a moment longer before giving up on his sudden grudge, grumbling. “Yeah. It's mine. And I can't get another one, which is why I keep it here. If I had it at home, you'd probably knock it over.”

Oh, c'mon. “I would not--” He looked at me. “--Knock it…” His look turned into a _look_. “…Over. Man, you're pretty protective of that thing, aren't you?” I asked, crossing my arms. Fine, you knock over ONE bookshelf, and suddenly you can't be trusted around important things.

Well, I knocked over one bookshelf. The bookshelf knocked over the OTHER bookshelf. And then THAT bookshelf-

…Nevermind. “Why can't you get a new one? It's just a cactus,” I pointed out. “There are probably plenty in Sahara Square alone.”

He stood up. “Because this one was given to me by someone,” he answered. “And I'm gonna go put it back, since I've already watered it and changed it's soil this week.”

I watched the coyote as he padded off. So, his super-important cactus he kept in a safe place was given to him by someone, and he couldn't get another?

Well, wasn't that just loaded with implications. I'd already worked myself up enough over his life, though. I guess I could leave it alone for now, and maybe ask him later.

Mystery solved, for today. I didn't really have anything else to do, since I had taken the day off to figure all this out.

As he came back, I sat up. “So… You wanna introduce me to Jeanine?” I asked innocently, grinning at him.

He crossed his arms- Oh, he'd taken his gloves off as well. “There's nothing between us,” he rebutted, already sensing the implication in my statement.

I threw an arm around his shoulder. “Maybe, maybe… But you know, I hear elephants are one of those species who buy marital aids the most-”

 

“Oh god.”

 

“And, you know, I could totally do a favor for your friends-”

 

“Don't do this to me.”

 

“-In fact, I could probably get her a discount, if you like her so much! But the rest of your friends pay full price.”

 

“I will literally throw you out and hold you down in the mud.”

 

I laughed. Yeah, everything was back to normal with my favorite grump.

 

I had a feeling the rest of my day was gonna be pretty good, too.


End file.
